spacetoday.net: SES, GE in buyback deal

SES, GE in buyback deal

Posted: Thu, Feb 15, 2007, 8:00 AM ET (1300 GMT)
GE Capital has agreed to sell its stake in satellite operator SES Global back to the company in exchange for an on-orbit satellite, cash, and stakes in several other companies, the companies announced Wednesday. SES will get GE's 19.5-percent sake in the company and in return will take control of a new holding company, SES International Holdings. That company's assets will consist of €588 million (US$765 million) in cash, the AMC-23 satellite currently in operation in GEO, and stakes in SatLynx, AsiaSat, Star One, and ORBCOMM. The deal is designed to remove the "overhang" caused by GE's stake in SES that had been depressing the company's shares, SES executives said. GE had owned a part of SES since the merger of SES with GE Americom in 2001.